Myanmar Reports Slight Fall in HIV Rate, Seeks Outside Help: Report

Myanmar's HIV rate has declined slightly from 1.5 percent in 2000 to 1.3 percent in 2005, Min Thwe, deputy director of the country's National AIDS Program, said in a report today. Anti-AIDS efforts must target young people, especially women, because the male-female ratio of infections has worsened from 4:1 in 2000 to 3:1 this year, said Min, who added that NAP activities have been hampered by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria's August decision to pull $54 million in funding from Myanmar. NAP had planned to operate 10 teams offering testing, counseling and treatment of STDs in 2005 but could only start three teams, he said. "If we would like to see a significant impact, we need to scale up the activities that require human and financial resources as well as technical know-how," said Min.

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